Free The Rancher's Homecoming by Arlene James

finger in every pie.”
    â€œThose are still small towns,” Rex pointed out, “not much bigger than War Bonnet, probably less than two thousand people.”
    â€œSmall-town life is what I want for my girl,” Callie said. “It’s what her daddy wanted for her. I’ll try Duncan or Ardmore, if I can’t find work in a smaller town.”
    â€œNeither is exactly a metropolis,” Rex noted. “What are their populations? Twenty-five thousand, tops? There are more students at the University of Oklahoma.”
    â€œThat seems pretty big to me,” Callie admitted. “Just think of it. You could live there your whole life and not know a tenth of the people.”
    â€œNever thought of it that way,” Rex admitted, frowning.
    She changed the subject, polishing her apple on her thigh. “What did you think of the church service this morning?” Taking a big bite, she waited for him to do the same.
    â€œIt was different.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œFirst time I’ve ever seen the pastor play guitar in the praise band.”
    She laughed. “He’s pretty good.”
    â€œHe is, on the guitar and in the pulpit.”
    Callie nodded. “Folks aren’t so concerned about appearances at Countryside. They enjoy worship. I’m all for reverence, but I think God has a sense of fun, too.”
    â€œHe must. There was lots of laughter out there this morning, and I got the feeling that’s the norm.”
    â€œI hope so,” Callie said, getting to her feet. “Better go check on my sleepers now.”
    â€œI’ll be in shortly,” Rex said, following suit. “Thanks again, Callie.”
    She nodded and started to walk away, but then she stopped and turned back. “Just so you know, this job, you, you’re an answered prayer for me.”
    Rex opened his mouth, and for a moment she thought he might speak, but then he bowed his head, and she went on, strangely pleased and, for the moment at least, at peace.
    * * *
    Answered prayer. When on God’s green earth had he ever been such a thing for anyone else? The idea shamed Rex. Callie Deviner shamed Rex. She worked daylight to dark without ever uttering a word of complaint. Just the opposite, in fact. She worked hard and was downright pleasant about it. Wes loved her. She’d made a huge difference around here and earned every cent of her pay.
    Moreover, Rex was man enough to admit that the heartbreak she’d endured would have destroyed him. He could barely imagine how alone and helpless she must have felt when her husband had died. In his own case, anger and hurt pride had overshadowed any pain or sense of loss that he’d felt at Amy’s betrayal, and that told him an uncomfortable truth about his past marriage.
    He spent a long night in contemplation, coming to the conclusion that he and Amy simply had not loved each other the way Callie and her husband had. Maybe that would have changed over time, but somehow Rex doubted it. He sensed something clean and honest about the way Callie and Bo had loved, something he’d never felt with Amy.
    He’d always known that kind of love had thrived between his parents, but somehow he’d thought it was a thing of the past, something that no longer existed in this modern world. Callie made him feel ten times the fool and out of sync with this place and time. Worse, she made him feel... lonely . For something he hadn’t even known he was missing. That left him unsettled and agitated.
    A part of him longed for what his father and Callie seemed to have—a simpler, truer way of life, an easier way of seeing the world. Another part of Rex couldn’t wait to get out of War Bonnet, leave Straight Arrow Ranch behind and return to the city and the practice of law with one of the more prestigious firms in Tulsa. This time, his goals would be different, however. This time he’d be less concerned with climbing the